Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is aimless. Vision with action will achieve.

Not sure what that quote pertains to, but it made me think, so I thought I would put it up there for the other two people who might read this and want to think about it too.

On to this past week- rough week, lots of training, a large portion of which has been on the bike. The big event of this past weekend was riding the ENTIRE Ironman course. This was the longest ride I had ever done by 30 miles and the heat was intense. We started at Joe's Crabshack and we were doing great at the beginning (of course- thats how all these stories start, right?)... we got to 1694, went down the hill, back up the hill, to 329 and did the turn around (which in my opinion is a complete inefficiency of this course and needs to be corrected- for those of us that are not good on the bike, it is hard to turn around in the middle of the street with other riders doing the same thing!)... anyways, then back down the hill at 1694 in my big ring, and wait, lets change to my small ring to go up the hill... ummm, no- it got stuck and i came to a screeching halt. At the bottom of the hill. With no idea how to fix this impending problem. So, I exit my bike, change my gears a hundred times and pray to God it fixes itself magically... and it does! So I jumped (aka, gingerly hoisted myself back upon) my bike and started back up the mountain that is 1694. So that was saga #1.

Saga #2 wasnt so techinical in nature as it was a directional error and caused us to get off course which you do not want to do when you are already riding 112 miles. We completed the first loop, which put us at about 60 miles in and at that point, we were tired and we just starting to feel the effects of the long ride. BUT, we still had to do the loop again. Surely, we thought, this loop can not be that long! We were EXACTLY sure where to turn, but there were a ton of riders out and sure certain we could follow them or figure it out on our own. I was leading the group (mistake #1,003). So we take a left on 42, ride about 3 miles, I see Old Sligo and I am convinced we are supposed to be on that road (wrong). So I turn, and Jackie and Sarah being the great friends they are, turn with me, even though they were pretty sure I was wrong. We get about a mile or so in and I finally concede that I am incorrect- I can be a little bullheaded. So we turn around, bike back (uphill), out of Old Sligo, and back to 42... another 10-15 miles to Lagrange and 393 and THEN turn left... that starts the loop. So yeah, we got lost, but hey, we rode 115 instead of 112. We should be good to go come Ironman time, right? Ha.

Saga #3 Came about 10 miles after we turned left at 393... my stomach started hurting and the drink that I had banked on working for me totally failed. I had to make a potent mix of it so that I had enough to last me during the entire ride since you cant buy it in gas stations and between the potency, the taste, and the saltiness, it totally messed with my stomach. So yeah, I was feeling sick and queasy. I then decided I was either going to stop or chuck my water bottle in the back of my jersey and the chucking of the water bottle seemed like the less drastic option, so i tried that first. It was full of the bad drink (I dont want to mention the name and ruin it for anyone else). So long story, longer... all I had to drink for the last 50 miles or so was some water and I lost A TON of electrolytes. I got a huge migraine and towards the end, I was delirious I thought. All I wanted to do was get home.

The good news about the whole ride was that I learned a lot about how to pace myself, gears, what it will feel like to be on my bike that long (not good at all), NUTRITION, and mental toughness. I really think i can do that ride again with a lot more ease. There were so many people out there doing it at the same time and everyone was so nice and supportive the whole time, it was amazing! We ran into one guy, Bob, who seemed to be at every gas station we stopped at to give us water and Gatorade- it was amazing! I have found that all of the riders and people training for this Ironman are the most amazingly nice and generous people. If you do an Ironman for no other reason, you could do it to train and meet the most amazing people, because I definitely have!

I dont think I could have run a marathon at the end of that ride, but I will get there and by August 30th, I will be ready, I do know that!